POINT CLEAR, Ala. — Appalachian State University athletics collected one of the Sun Belt Conference's most prestigious honors on Sunday evening when it was named a winner of the Sun Belt's 2017 Institutional Graduation Rate Award. Appalachian State and Louisiana were named co-winners of the award.

Appalachian State earned the 2017 Institutional Graduation Rate Award on the strength of its student-athletes owning the highest Federal Graduation Rate among all current Sun Belt members for the 2015-16 academic year. The graduation rates are calculated and published yearly by the NCAA in its Division I Graduation Rate Annual Report. 

“We're proud and honored to receive this award,” Appalachian State director of athletics Doug Gillin said. “Our primary goal at Appalachian State continues to be to graduate our student-athletes. This award is a testimony to the commitment of our coaches, academic services personnel, faculty, staff and student-athletes to achieve that goal.” 

Appalachian State also earned the award in 2015. 

-App State-